Chain Smoker

 

I really enjoy hanging out with Everett while Phillip is at preschool and Evelyn is sleeping. He is one funny little guy. This week I was in a snacking mood so found some snap peas to munch. I stuck a bean in between my fingers. It sort of looked like a T-Rex claw so I stuffed more pea pods in between my fingers then chased Everett around the house for several minutes. He thought that was awesome. We spent the next hour playing dinosaur with our dino bean paws. Everett makes a pretty cute dinosaur! One funny thing about Everett lately is that if he is upset all you have to do is repeat what he says and he diffuses almost immediately. For example, he is throwing a fit about getting dressed. He is screaming that he does NOT want to get dressed. All I have to say is, "oh, you don't want to get dressed?" He will calm down and nod his head...then get dressed. Two and three year olds are a different breed of animal. We invited the Rognon family over for FHE. They came from Idaho and Oregon before moving to Nebraska. Michelle is about to have a baby, she is due this week. I offered to watch her kids if needed, I wanted them to know who I was before I showed up at 4 am to a house of shocked kids. Her kids are all very close to my kid's ages, 6, 4, 2, and almost born. Justin gave a good short lesson on testimonies. We had dirt dessert for refreshment.

Tuesday was a busy, busy day. Evelyn got her 6 mth shots. I was scheduled for a hair cut, so arranged to drop the kids off at Sarah's home. My appointment was cancelled last minute so picked up the kids and raced home to meet Amelia who came home early from school. She had a play date with her friend Katelyn. Everett had a really, rough day. I HATE, hate, HATE daylight savings. It messes with little people's schedules and takes weeks to get them happy again. Everett was suffering from schedule changes so was super tired and full of whine. I thought ahead and planned to make bean soup for dinner. I was in the process of cooking the beans on the stove top because I missed the window of opportunity to use the crock pot. Suddenly, I looked at the clock and realized Amelia's parent teacher conference was due in 15 minutes. Everett decided to throw a royal tantrum at that exact moment. It took forces of nature to get all the kids into the van and to the school in time. Yep! I forgot the dang beans simmering on the stove. After the conference Everett threw another tantrum. Justin informed me he was going back to work and would just grab dinner on his way. I was so stressed out that I decided to just go with him. The kids were delighted to get a very rare dinner out. After that Evelyn was starving so I nursed her in the van. At that moment I remembered the beans. By the time I got back home the beans smoked the entire house, for about an hour. Beans smell a lot like cigarette smoke, stale cigarette smoke. It was so bad I opened up all the windows and left the house open. We drove around town for an hour until Phillip's parent teacher conference. Our home smells like a sleazy bar after a Friday night rush. Justin wiped down the walls and ceiling in the kitchen. He made a run to the store for febreeze. I made another run to get carpet deodorizer and furnace filters. Almost a week later the smell is a little better but still pretty nasty. We are now living in what reminds me of a stale smoke hotel room. Gross. Justin was a trooper! Our clothes have an obvious stench that makes my eyes water. Never again. I am banned from cooking beans on the stove.

Amelia is doing really well in school. Her reading scores are off the charts (literally). She now reads the scriptures for our family half the time. For math the kids are timed 1 minute to complete 20 addition or subtraction sums. She is completing 9 out of 20 at this point. Mrs Dobry said she takes her time to make sure she writes neatly and gets the answers correct. We will work on timing her homework now. She is a good student, friend in class, and polite to everyone! Phillip is also doing very well. He can write his name, can identify all the colors, count to 20, draw most shapes, recite and recognize the ABCs, and meets all social requirements (plus some). His best buddy at school is Noah. Apparently, Phillip runs in and hugs Noah each day. The boys then decide which superhero they are that day and spend the rest of the time rescuing damsels in distress. Phillip told me he wants to learn how to write his full name: Phillip Big Boy Call.

Wednesday Ella came to spend a couple days with us. Alison, Matt, and the boys went to Lincoln for the state BB tournaments. Ella is a little tired of all the basketball! With 3 brothers I don't think it will get any better for a long while. The girls had a really fun time. The weather was fair so I shooed the kids outside to play all afternoon. Thursday it was nice again. I was prepping for my photography class when Ella told me Phillip was getting snowman snot on the carpet. I almost cried when I saw the mess the kids made with the goop. There was slime all over the table, floor, their clothes, the bathroom, and a nice sticky trail on the carpet. We packed up and went to the park for a picnic and playtime. I needed space to cool my mommy jets. The boys got to play with RJ while the girls visited Deb's salon. Amelia and I got cute new haircuts. Arik cut my hair short again. Ahhh! It feels nice to have short hair again. It was annoying to wear my hair up most days. Amelia got a cute blunt cut. Deb put a sparkle strand and hair paint in Amelia and Ella's hair. They were in heaven! The girls helped me run some errands to get copies, flowers, and dinner ingredients. My class this week was on Light and composition. I set up a couple staged props with constant studio lights and flower arrangements to practice with and use as teaching aids. It was a fun class. Evelyn Hornbarger wanted a snack after class. She convinced me to get a treat at the Dollar Bar. Wow! It's been a while since I just hung out with another human like that. After class I finished packing up the van for an early departure to Denver the next morning. To be continued....